Dems Restaurant in Canterbury

I loved the food here, but found the service a little slow. Guess it is understandable when we all want to eat before a show

We Enjoyed A Family Meal For A Big Birthday Celebration. We Had A Party Of 10 & Due To The Size Of Our Party We Were Placed In The Paris Room, Which Holds 10-12 People. We Were Able To Access The Room Earlier Than Our Evening Booking, To Decorate The Table & Place Birthday Gifts & Balloons In Place For The Night. A Great Private Room, That Allows A Larger Group Space & Privacy To Celebrate In Style. Great Decor & A Great Size For Larger Groups. The Restaurant Itself Is A Great Place, A Pianist Was Playing As We Entered & The Staff Were Accommodating & Attentive. We Had Pre Ordered Our Meal Choice To Make This A Smooth Operation. We Did Have To Wait A While For The First Course, However With The Drink Flowing & The Group Celebrating The Occasion, This Was Not A Real Issue. In Addition This Was A Busy Saturday Evening. The Food Was Great, I Had A Paté To Start Which Was A Tasty Appetiser, Followed By A Medium Rare Steak... This Is By Far The Best Steak I Have Enjoyed In A Long Time... Cooked To Perfection. Finished Off With A Creme Brûlée, Which Was Lovely. The Whole Party Cleaned Their Plates & All Commented On How Great The Food Was, From Steak To Pork Belly & Salmon All Enjoyed & Nothing Left Over. Overall A Lovely Evening In A Great Location, With Friendly Staff & Great Food. Well Worth A Visit! 👍👍👍

Warm and what else is so British

Arrived very late but they managed to fit us as just before the kitchen was shutting. food was tasty and hot.

Superb meal all nice and fresh..

My friends are I were very pleased to visit this close by restaurant before the afternoon matinee one Saturday in September. I would recommend going here either for lunch or dinner

We both enjoyed our Sunday roast. We had the entire restaurant to ourselves. Student staff that were both very nervous. Fair in price. Good sized meal. The plate was cold and so was the food. I felt bad but had to send it back, which is embarrassing but retuned exceptionally well. Staff need to use napkins to serve and act with conviction. Only place to find a roast in the town centre. We will return as we enjoyed the meal even with its hick ups.

This restaurant is part of the group at whose hotel we stayed and as a consequence we were offered a discount. We were only in Canterbury a couple of nights so checked TA and decided to take a look on the first night and book for the second. We were glad we did. This was a delightful evening putting us in the festive cheer and with some superb musical accompaniment. A previous reviewer mentioned a superb steak and upon this comment I ordered one and was delighted too. Very good service and served on very hot plates I could find no fault. Very reasonably priced too.

After reading such positive reviews, we were looking forward to our Christmas dinner, which we had booked and pre-ordered for. We arrived and were seated at the front of the restaurant, which was sectioned off from the main area, meaning it was very difficult to get the attention from staff, however the staff were very polite. This proved to be an issue as after waiting a gruelling 40 minutes for cocktails, it then took another 20 minutes for us to be served our pre-ordered dismal dinner. The confit duck was very dry and bland. The parsnips and Brussels sprouts were under cooked and carrots were mushy and unseasoned. The pigs in blankets were very pink, so they weren't eaten. There was not enough gravy served on the meals, when we asked for more we were given such a small jug between a table of 6, it had to be rationed out. The crème brûlée was cold and under cooked. However the chocolate torte was lovely. Overall, we won't be coming back.

A wonderful London experience. Recommend

We booked this restaurant for a Saturday night while staying at the Canterbury Hotel, they had a pianist playing which we first thought oh that's not our thing. But he was great and playing a good mixture of tunes most that we recognised!Now as for the food I think I had the best steak I have ever had.... All the food we had was fabulous, full of flavour and presented perfectly.It was good value for the type of restaurant it was and the service was excellent.We would definitely recommend to all.

Went into Dems recently for dessert as they have the most wonderful desserts. The Bailey's cheesecake is to die for. Service was fantastic as always. Also a wonderful place to stop for a drink or some food before going to the theatre.

Nice atmosphere. Lots of choice for vegans. Whilst the food was not outstanding, I've certainly eaten a lot worse.

We where planning on going to the Marlow theatre, and stopped off at Dem's for there some food. so many choices but I decided on having the parma ham and melon for starters then for the main meal we had the mussels and finally as a naughty treat for me the chocolate brownie. The staff were very friendly and funny, our meals were delivered promptly and where delicious. We where having such a good time that we almost missed the start of the show. To sum up excellent food, and service real value for money. Will definitely be making a return in the future

My partner and I visited Dems prior to seeing a show at the Marlow as the restaurant is in a great location, very close to the theatre.Their pre-theatre menus proved to be great value for money, i opted for the melon and parma ham for starters, followed by the muscles as a main and the chocolate brownie for dessert, all of which were superb.The staff were very friendly and helpful, and despite arriving during a busy period, our meals were delivered promptly leaving us plant of time to make our way to the theatre.We'll definitely be making a return trip next time we're in Canterbury and will certainly recommend it to our friends.Thanks for all the staff at the restaurant.

We had mistakenly gone to another restaurant on Tuesday 20th Nov to enjoy a special offer of 1 main meal and 1 free but the noise level of the customers next to our table at the Olive was so loud we left and went to our favourite. They did not disappoint. We both had pate starters Mackerel for me and Chicken for mt wife - superb. My calves liver was the best I have ever had. I loved the wine we bought Montepulicano for me and the Pinot Grigio for my wife and the the excellent meal came to just over £61. Service excellent - this for me is the best restaurant in Canterbury. Fully recommend coming here.

This is the restaurant run by Pilgrims hotel. Stay at Pilgrims, eat at Dems. Breakfast is especially good.

Our party of 3 arrived at the restaurant just before 6pm in good spirits, looking forward to a leisurely pre-theatre meal, followed by an evening of opera at the Marlowe immediately opposite. Its close proximity was our reason for choosing Dems.

We came here for a pre-theatre meal on a Tuesday. Arrived at 17.45, restaurant virtually full. Ordered starters, which arrived promptly: my chicken liver pate barely tasted of liver (or indeed of anything) and had a consistency which can only be described as vomitory. My partner’s melon and parma ham was better, but bizarrely covered in an avalanche of rocket and parmesan. Then we waited, and waited and waited, until at 6.50 (show at 7.15!) we joined a queue trying to pay their bills at the counter. No apologies, except for a weak ‘Our kitchen wasn’t up to it tonight’. And a voucher for 20% off our food, should we decide to return!

The restaurant is centrally located, close to The Marloew theatre, it was attractive to us for that reason. Table booked for 5:30 in preparation for a performance starting at 7:15. We arrived on time, and after discussion, were offered a table close to the server. Drinks and orders were made, and produced promptly and we settled down to exchange news, as friends do. The restaurant, which had been anything but busy, suddenly became very active, with a large party settling down right opposite us. At 6:30, we started to become concerned, and shortly after we made a first representation to the serving staff. We were told than we would receive our main course in no more than 5 minutes. When it had not arrived in 10, we began to realise that we might arrive in our theatre seats with indigestion and at 6:55 we decided to abandon our meal.

Had a nice dinner here with my friend. I would give it 4 stars but I wasn't massively impressed by the service. Seemed a bit surly, or at least one staff member did. I would come here again but wouldn't be in a rush to return.

Good quality ingredients, lovely staff. Very reasonable prices. Home made croissants, Perfect coffee. Just popped in, we were not staying at the hotel and we were made very welcome. Very professional and approachable staff. Excellent eggs Benedict.

Lovely atmosphere, friendly staff, nice spot, food was excellent

Great food and service, reasonable prices, well worth a visit, loved the food, really really loved the food.

we had the eggs benedict for breakfast eggs cooked to perfection and the hollandaise was to die for certainly one of the best place for breakfast in Canterbury WW

Llegó a Dems un sábado por la noche justo antes del teatro, desde el exterior se ve muy pequeño, pero al entrar, se puede ver que hay más de lo que se ve desde afuera.

Estábamos alojados en un hotel local y fuimos a Dems para el almuerzo. Era muy tranquilo para un viernes a mediodía, pero el servicio y la comida eran de primera clase. Ofrecen un menú fijo muy razonable y disfrutamos de un entrante y un plato principal. El tamaño de la porción fue muy generoso. Nos sentamos en la sección de la calle principal del restaurante y me sorprendió mucho cuando usé los baños, lo grande que era el restaurante. La gran decoración parece ser muy popular entre las multitudes del teatro y los menús ofrecen opciones de teatro antes y después. Buena comida, precios razonables.

Lovely service extremely good value for money , food was beautiful !

Dems es una joya de lugar y ofrece una excelente relación entre precio y calidad con dos cursos de alrededor de 13 y tres de 15. La comida es, en su mayor parte, de gran calidad y se sirve caliente. La única excepción que diría es el helado que acompaña al brownie de chocolate, que es de baja calidad, una decepción dado el alto nivel del resto de la comida. El servicio carece de calidez y la comida se entrega de manera superficial, lo que no ayuda al ambiente, pero nunca menos recomendaría este restaurante.

Elegimos Dems ya que está muy cerca de The Marlowe y habíamos disfrutado de varias comidas aquí antes. Lamentablemente no esta noche y no volveré y ya no recomendaré.

Dems is in a good location for a pre-theatre dinner. It looks tiny from the outside but goes back a long way. It was a little confusing when entering as there was no staff in the front restaurant and no one to direct to table, etc. There is a good two course dinner pre-theatre for $12.95 and a "vegan option" on the blackboard. However, when I asked for this, was told it was not available. Pleasant decor, quite amateur service. A vegan chick pea curry was average. Served with white rice, and very little curry flavour, it was acceptable, though not worth the $12.50 charge. With all the eateries in Canterbury, this would not be my first choice on returning.

Ate here for the husbands birthday in May. The food was fantastic and catered well for gluten intolerances. The menu was excellent and varied and the service was impeccable. Ambiance was also perfect which really made the evening. This place is a hidden gem and would definitely recommend.

The food was nice but the price of a glass of wine was£8 we had the pre theatre two courses for £12.95. My wifes soft drink was .£2.50

Their was four of us and we had a mixture of pre-theatre dinner menu £12.95 2course or £15.95 3 course bargain! Also ordered from normal menu. All our food was amazing and my mother-in-law is very fussy, we had no complaints from her. Another family menu is vegan and had an excellent choice for her too. Excellent service and will definitely be returning.

We could not go to our usual Canterbury restaurant so decided to try Dems Restaurant. Disappointing really. For starter I ordered Mackerel Pate - whilst tasty, it was not a pate and I picked out 4 bones. I followed it with liver and bacon. I felt that the liver was overcooked (I prefer it pink in the middle and I was not asked how I would like it). It was the bacon that made the meal tasty. My wife’s Parma Ham and Melon was fine but the chicken was just okay. So we will not be revisiting Dems.

Enjoyable evening with good friends at Dems. Excellent menu selections, including a two or three course menu. Excellent and congenial waitstaff. Conveniently located. Agreeable environment. Good place for a pre-theater dinner.

We had a pre-theatre meal. The staff were very polite and accommodating and the service was good, the restaurent was clean and nicely preesented. However, the food was dissappointing, the presentation of our starters looked cumbersome, I would rather have alittle less food and it presented with care than alot which looked as though it had been thrown on the plate. I had smoked salmon, a pile of salmon two blobs cream cheese and two big slices of toasted bread and green rocket salad. Some of the rocket was old and yellow! I mentioned this to our waitress and advised her to tell the chef. I also had the roast belly pork, with crackling! This was soft and bendy, couldn't eat it, mash potato and spring green. The mash was quite dry, not creamy and light and the spring green although it looked delicious was barely warm, I inform the waitress about this to. My mums salmon was nice but far too many vegetables on the plate and made it look untidy and not very appetizing . Most of the food was edible , but when you pay quite alot for your meals you expect a certain standard, if it says crisp crackling then it should be, if it says green salad then it should be fresh and green. Serving green salad that's not daily fresh is, unacceptable. Needless to say I didn't make a fuss, as it was my mums 82 birthday treat along with theatre show to see the wonderful and fabulous "calender girls" .

Der Service hat sofort überzeugt, die Auswahl ist sehr abwechslungsreich, schöne Weine, jedoch leider kein gezapftes Bier. Schade war, daß Sonntagabend einige Essen ausverkauft waren. Trotzdem sehr zu empfehlen, auch für das Frühstück. (Pilgrim's English Restaurant ist in Dem's aufgegangen.)

This spacious and attractive restaurant definitely deserves to be much much busier! We wanted a meal at 5.00 p.m. when many restaurants are closed. The food was excellent, the atmosphere very conducive to a relaxing conversation with friends or family and the service was friendly, efficient but unobtrusive. This is one of my three favourite restaurants in Canterbury, which I enjoy going back to again and again. The vegetarian pasta was absolutely delicious, even perfect!! I have tried to imitate this at home but it just doesn't taste as good!!

The best vegan nut roast I've ever tasted. The vegan chocolate torte was to die for.

have been here 3 times before shows and each time good food and service i would recommended nice options and the set menu is good 3 courses for 15.95 cannot go wrong.

Fantastic food, well priced and very comfortable. Awesome vegan food.

My wife and I visited Canterbury for the weekend, passed this restaurant and as it looked good, we went in.

We went for a pre-theatre meal and we were surprised by being led through our nearest inn into a delightful restaurant where we were met by helpful staff and seated in the window watching the world pass by as we waited for our meal. We had as a main a chicken breast topped with peaches and cheese, a enjoyable combination served hot and very tasty. A surprise awaits those who venture in, and well worth the visit, and it set us ready for our evening with Killer Queen in the Marlowe.

We have very mixed feelings about our first visit to Dems. We ate here as two couples for birthday celebrations. Arriving from the high street was strange as it was hard to find the desk or any staff to check in. The restaurant was incredibly quiet for a Saturday evening in this busy city. The back section was in complete darkness and there were only 3 tables occupied when we arrived at 8.30. Although we weren't early, we had to hover and wait while our table was made up.

We cannot recommend this Resturant enough.

I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. We ordered one paella and one fish pie (dish of the day). We had to wait more than half an hour for the food to arrive.

Had the lamb off the menu which was cooked to perfection. Great friendly service from the staff. I hope to go back over the weekend of our stay in Canterbury.

Lovely family lunch. Good value for money

We had a lovely evening at Dems restaurant. The food was delicious and of high quality, the service excellent and we enjoyed listening to the pianist playing the grand piano. Would recommend this restaurant highly! The prices are also very affordable.

A lovely time here, great food and nice staff who were very professional and helpful. Toilets were clean and the place was spotless.A bit pricy,BUT very well worth it.

We booked a table for a Saturday night pre-theatre dinner. When we arrived there were manyvacant tables with reserved signs on. We were seated at a table in the glass shop front in the full sun. When we asked to move to a table in the cooler area, this was refused - theoretically because the tables were booked - however, when we left these tables were still empty. The manager was just being awkward. One of our party nipped out to nearby restaurants to see if we could swap but they were full (perhaps their staff were more pleasant!) Meal was OK - but we preferred the previous menu they used to have at the Pilgrims restaurant which was more traditional pub food and straight forward. Due to the unpleasantly hot and stuffy environment and pig-headed attitude of the manager - we won't be returning. I understand the nearby Wildwood restaurant is good - we will try there next time.

taken here for a birthday meal with my girlfreind. great cozy atmosphere with the piano playing great songs. romantic setting and the food was amazing. fillet steak was cooked to perfection!! the lamb was beautiful. puddings and starters were great. good selection of drinks and food. staff were friendly and attentive and welcoming. very chilled and sophisticated at the same time. will go again!.

First class service. Lovely food. Great vegan choices and all at reasonable prices. Very pleasant staff.

Spacious restaurant. Lovely menu choices and we were well attended throughout the three course dining experience.

This place was recommended by our hotel. Staff are pleasant and helpful and the interior is nicely arranged. On the nights we dinned there was a pianist playing. Food was excellent, served without too much delay and wines very reasonable. The cater for theatre goers as they are close to Marlowe Theatre.

We went here for the pre theatre menu. There were just us & one other table. No atmosphere at all & lack lustre waiting staff. I asked if the mussels were in season and was met with a blank stare. She went to check it no one knew. The food was mediocre TBH I expected more. Boring.

Had a lovely dinner with my daughter there. Nice food, pleasant and professional staff. I would go there again.

While we were strolling in the cosy streets of Canterbury and looking for a place to have dinner we were attracted by dome fine piano music coming from Dems. With the piano music came a more sophisticated restaurant then we encountered before, a perfect place to have a nicely served dinner. This for a fair price and very professional friendly staff. I would definitely recommend this restaurant !!!

Had an awful experience with the food here. My husband ordered fish pie with seasonal veg, when it arrived 9 after the waitress almost threw it across the table) the veg, which was broccoli and sugar snaps, was heaped on the plate in a mound and looked disgusting. The veg was as good as raw and almost cold. The fish pie was so hard round the edges he had a job to chew it. After asking the waitress to take it back and remove the veg the plate came back with all the scrapings still on it. I would have at least expected a clean plate. I ordered chicken, where do I start, chicken was overcooked, potatoes were swimming in some sort of fluid plus fat which the potatoes had been tossed in. I sent mine back to have the fluid drained off. Altogether the meal was awful. No prices on the board where the fish pie was ordered from, when I spoke to the waiter about it he said they don't put the prices on the board because it is a different one for lunch and evening. I said he should still have the prices on show. Not to be recommended.

Great food & service. Recommended.

Excellent food and staff first class, would definately go back. Short walk from theatre and carparks. Dems also had a pre theatre menu which was tasty and delicious.

Went there with friends, and had to try the fillet steak... was not disappointed! Cooked to perfected and melted in mouth. Frites, and salad were great additions to the plate. Staff were very friendly too! Will be going back!!

My friend and I went last week for my birthday. The place was quiet with only 6 people in total. We had eaten there before and had a nice experience. This time, the food was extremely salty. My friend had the French beef casserole while I had a coq au vin. Unfortunately for us, we both suffered for that. Whilst my case was mild, my friend woke up at 2am with severe food poisoning which left him debilitated for 5 days. He still hasn’t recovered fully as of the this review.

Very close to the Marlowe theatre and the pre theatre menu timings nicely coincides with the 2 for 1 cocktail timing

A very central restaurant close to the Marlowe Theatre which makes it a good port of call before a show. The pre-theatre set menu is excellent value. The staff are friendly and well trained.

We usually eat in the Marlowe Green Room pre-theatre but it was booked so we came here - smart move!

Good selection of vegan food which was actually really good, tasty and well thought out. Prices are a tiny bit higher than what I’m used to but not too bad generally I was quite impressed. It’s really close to the Marlowe theatre as well which makes it the ideal choice if you’re combining the two for the evening

Had a thursday dinner here to celebrate our anniversary  Food was absolutely lovely(fish starter and beef stew very tasty), great choice of wine, service was first class and bill was very reasonable  I would highly recommend

We had heated beaf of some days before! I asked for a plate with beaf, potatos and vegatable... The beaf was absolutely uneatable! The potato were old and the carrots had a strange color. I left all the dish because I was afraid to feel bad. For my child I asked past with tomato and they brought pasta witha a strange white cream with chicken in it. I'm sorry to say that I will never come back here.

A friend and I had a lovely meal there last week before heading over to the Marlowe. The food was lovely, very tasty, and plenty of it. We had the pre theatre menu, with the mushroom en croute and mackeral pate to start, the muscles and coq of vin as mains and we shared a brownie. All was very tasty and I would return based on that alone.

Ideal location if dining before or after a visit to the Marlowe theatre, but suggest a reservation as it is popular. Food is good quality, as is service and staff are friendly. Premises are very clean and the atmosphere is good.

Dems was a perfect Saturday evening. Live and talented pianist, great food (but quite a lot of it) and great service! But the price was a surprise- bargain

One of the better Full English Breakfasts in Canterbury, came with toast just as it should and they actually swapped egg for sausage with out fuss. Otherwise, a hash brown would complete it and the bacon and sausage seemed on the cheaper side or just over done... but still good

We’ve lived in Canterbury for a number of years and this was our first visit. We will definitely be back. Excellent food and ambiance with live piano playing in the background. Recommend the salt marsh lamb as some of the best ever eaten with a very generous portion of delicious dauphinois potatoes. The service was excellent too.

Hardy any customer service with no leadership. Food not great. My chicken breast dish was swimming in tastless broth and breast was very over cooked. Experience not good I will not be returning. This was a visit to give Dems a second try after being disappointed the first time.

What a great find! We have tried several restaurants in Canterbury over the last few years, many good, and this is definitely our favourite. From the moment we arrived the staff were excellent; friendly, helpful and efficient. Our waiter was from abroad but his English was perfect. The ambiance is relaxed, refined without being stale and a very good pianist was playing for most of the evening, the whole place was spotless and the food was faultless. We will certainly go again next time we visit Canterbury.

This restaurant was very cosy and the dinner was very tasty. I would recommend a visit if in Canterbury

I came in for a meal with my mother, the food was nice but I witnessed a male member of staff being extremely rude, making fun and laughing to another younger member of staff. He was also rude to other customers around us, being very...

Lovely food and setting, but unfortunately the language barrier with a few of the waiting staff caused some frustration and confusion. Happy hour cocktails 2-4-1, great deal. Excellent value £12.95 for 2 courses, will be returning.

Tried to get a table in zizzi's just opposite

My wife and I wanted to celebrate our wedding anniversary (24th April) and chose once again Dems Brasserie. We got the pre-theatre menu and I had the mushrooms en croute and my wife the pate. We followed with mains beef stew for me and coq au vin for my wife and once again superb food - cooked to perfection. The service was extraordinairy good. I had two large glasses of wine - French merlot and the Italian Montepulciano and my wife Pinot Grigio. I wont write any more reviews on this restaurant but it is one of the best 5 in Canterbury.

Friends suggested we should try Dems but what a disappointment! We booked a table for four and arranged to dine with friends who were visiting Canterbury for the day. We arrived on time but unfortunately so did a group of 50 other visitors who were clearly deemed to be more important than our small group of 4! We waited and waited for attention and eventuallly we ordered our drinks that took an age to arrive. We again waited a long time and had to prompt staff that they needed to take our order. After about fifty minutes our meal arrived but it was not inspiring. We chose from the limited menu two portions of mussels, a chicken supreme and a burger. The mussels were smothered in a thick white sauce and they were lukewarm, the burger was tough, the chicken was very ordinary and the chips all round were cold. The staff were inattentive and the experience was poor. We will not return.

We came out of the theatre & saw Dems Restaurant, as we had not booked a table we were pleased to be shown a table in the window. We chose the After Theatre meal & were pleased with the result. I suppose if you like a really big meal it was not for you, but we had sufficient & enjoyed the meal & the outlook on the street.

I rang up in advance to explain my specific dietary requirements and Dems were fantastic, remembering me from the phone when I arrived and ensuring my dish was specially prepared. Usually ’special’ food is bland and boring, but mine was as delicious and exciting as everyone else’s - I can’t have garlic onions dairy or wheat so I ordered the chicken which came with veg and peach slices and herbs - unusual but it worked! Scallops for starter were amazing too, wrapped in bacon with a little salad in the side, perfectly cooked. For pudding they went out of their way to ask the kitchen if there was a special GF and DF option they could specially make for me. In the end I was too full so just had a cocktail, which was also lovely.

Nothing was really all that good so I feel the £40 I paid was too much. The prawn starter had a piece of toast that seemed out of place. The pork belly had chunks of bone, the mash potatoes were dry and there was no sauce. Sticky toffee pudding should taste of toffee but didn't, it should have a sticky sauce but didn't.

Booked our table for 6pm last night as going to the Marlowe for 7.30pm we arrived 10 minuets early was shown our table, it took about 10 mins for someone to come take our drinks order so we placed our food order at the same time, there was 6 of us and out of the 6 people only 1 had a starter of mozzarella and tomatoes salad so no cooking involved in this dish, the starter came out at around 6.35pm we asked about our main courses and was told they hadn’t even been sent to the kitchen yet and would be another 20mins, by this time it was approaching 6.50pm, the main courses arrived at 7.05pm and we had to be at the Marlowe for 7.30 so we had to rush eating our food which is not nice, I ordered chicken breast which should of come with a white wine sauce but it didn’t, so I went upto the waiter and mentioned that the sauce was missing, and was told they would get me some, the sauce eventually turned up but it wasn’t white wine sauce it was heated up butter, so I would not recommend this restaurant and we won’t ever be returning, oh and to but salt in the wound they have charged twice for 1 drink.

Really poor experience and service i would never go back or recommend this place. My girlfriend and I live in maidstone and wanted to have a nice dinner out in canterbury, booked a table for 8pm, turned up and the restaurant looks lovely. Ordered drinks with a lady who seemed to be the manager and then went on to order food, we both orders starters and we both went for the fillet steak. The manager then returns about 10 minutes later and says we are out of fillets put we might have rump, let me go and check. 5 minutes pass and then another waitress comes out and simply says "we are out of steaks". No apology. No recommendation for anything else on the menu. Just we are out of steaks and then walks away. So i went up to speak to the manager, who obviously wanted to avoid confrontation by sending a waitress out instead of herself and asked why at 8pm on a saturday have you run out what i would think to be the most popular meal on the menu, her reply was oh we had a large table of 10 a few minutes AFTER you and they all ordered fillets. This time she offered an apology and said she could speak to the large table to see if two of then would mind changing their order!? I said i did not want to stop other people from getting what they have ordered based on your poor service, we wasted 30 minutes in that restaurant and eventually left. If the manager had mentioned at the start that they were out of fillets we would have gladly ordered something else on the menu, but to send another person out to just say "we are out of steaks" was extremely poor service and management. Night ruined and half an hour wasted we went to cote brasserie 5 minutes up the road and had an amazing meal. Shame Dems Brasserie ruined our evening.

Stayed in the Pilgrims Hotel and with Dems restaurant being physically attached to the hotel we decided to have lunch there.

Great menu and very attentive friendly service.

We Enjoyed A Family Meal For A Big Birthday Celebration. We Had A Party Of 10 & Due To The Size Of Our Party We Were Placed In The Paris Room, Which Holds 10-12 People.

Excellent food, relaxed ambience, friendly staff!

We booked Dems for a meal before going to a ballet at the Marlowe initially because it was near the theatre but what a lovely surprise. It was a delious meal & very reasonable

I visited your restaurant last Wednesday with my wife for a valentines meal. We’d previously visited together before a theatre...

Chose Dems after good reviews and lication to the Marlowe theatre. We were very disappointed with the food. For my main course I chose the seafood paella which was served tepid on a cold plate . The rice was overcooked and tasteless. Another dish had an item missing and tiramisu lacked flavour. I suggest that they perhaps stick to a simple lunch menu that the kitchen could cope with better. Would recommend trying it again for a summer evening outing.

Excellent food and service. Nice ambience.

We chose to eat here ahead of our show due to the proximity to the theatre as well as the good reviews. Service was fine on the whole but nothing/no-one stood out. The food was average - presented well but the flavours just didn't quite hit the mark. We sent back one dish because it was lukewarm & was served on a cold plate. The staff dealt with this nicely but it was a shame it happened. We would consider trying this restaurant again but there is plenty of other choice in the city unfortunately for them...!

We’ve eaten here on numerous occasions, usually having the pre theatre option. The staff are lovely, attentive and friendly. We’ve always had the table we’ve requested which in other restaurants quite often gets ignored.

This was our first visit to Dems. We were sat in the front of the restaurant which was a bit cut off from the main dining area and very cold as it was right next to the door. Service was a little slow but the food was tasty and well presented. There was a pianist right next to us and although I initially thought it would be too loud, it actually wasn't.

We've eaten here a few times: for breakfast on a Saturday morning, pre-theatre after work and last night for Valentine's...